Carissa Low

Carissa A. Low, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Psychology, and Biomedical Informatics at the University of Pittsburgh, and Director of the Mobile Sensing and Health Institute. She holds a PhD in clinical health psychology from UCLA (2008) and completed postdoctoral training at the University of Pittsburgh before joining the faculty in 2013.

Her research focuses on leveraging mobile technology—including smartphones and wearable sensors—to improve patient monitoring, personalize behavioral interventions, and enhance healthcare outcomes. Key areas of study include remote symptom management in cancer care, diabetes self-management, mental health, and geriatric oncology. Her work integrates passive sensing, mobile health applications, and digital phenotyping to analyze real-time patient data.

Dr. Low’s grants include funding from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), and industry partners like Sony. Her studies often involve interdisciplinary collaboration, bridging clinical medicine, psychology, and computational sciences.

Her recent articles highlight trends in remote monitoring systems for chemotherapy patients, wearable sensor applications in mood and sleep disorders, and the role of mobile technology in reducing health disparities. She emphasizes patient-centered approaches, such as visualizing electronic health data for users and designing inclusive systems for older adults and underserved populations.

Labs and teams include the Mobile Sensing and Health Institute, where she leads projects on digital biomarkers, telehealth, and precision medicine. Her research aims to translate technological innovations into actionable tools for clinicians and patients, with a focus on improving quality of life and reducing healthcare inequities.